12 from Karnataka, who attended Tablighi Jamaat conference, test negative for COVID-19

Bengaluru, Feb 21: Historian Ramachandra Guha on Thursday refuted Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai's claim that the latter had apologised for police allegedly manhandling him during an anti-CAA protest in the city, saying he received no such call or apology.

The writer further said even if such an apology had been offered, he would have rejected it.

"The Home Minister of Karnataka has claimed on the floor of the State Assembly that he apologised to me by phone for the manhandling by the Bengaluru police on 19th December 2019. This is false.

I received no such call or apology," Guha tweeted.

"Even if such an apology had been offered, I would have rejected it.

The imposition of Section 144 was illegal (as the Karnataka High Court has since held) and I was proud to be one of thousands of peaceful protesters who defied the States arbitrary action on that day," he said in another tweet.

During his reply to the debate on law and order situation in the state, Bommai on Wednesday claimed that he had apologised to Guha.

The minister was apologising to senior Congress MLA and former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for police serving him notice and detaining him along with others at Mangaluru airport in December for trying to enter the city despite restrictions following violence there.

Stating that anti-CAA protests have taken place peacefully across the state, he had said, there might have been minor discrepancies, like that with historian Ramachandra Guha, being manhandled during a protest.

"I have called and apologised to him," he had said.

Guha was detained on December 19 for staging a demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens at the Town Hall here, in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed in the city.

He was taken away by police personnel and led to a police vehicle parked nearby.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said Bommai has committed a "perjury" in the House, and asked him to apologise to people and Guha in front of media.

"Bommai has committed a perjury on the floor of the House. It answers the question of where @BJP4India workers derive their motivation to spread fake news.

Bommai has insulted the people whom he represents," he tweeted and demanded that he apologize to people and Guha.

Yadgir, Jan 21: A bag was found abandoned at the Yadgir Bus Stand on Tuesday morning that left the commuters in panic.

After receiving the information, a police team, along with a sniffer dog, rushed to the spot. When the bag was checked, the police found clothes and cash in it.

It is stated that a passenger might have left the bag in a hurry to catch the bus.

Bengaluru, Feb 20: German software group SAP said on Thursday that it had temporarily shut down its offices across India for sanitisation after two employees in its Bengaluru Ecoworld office tested positive for H1N1 virus.

"Two SAP India employees based in Bangalore (RMZ Ecoworld office) have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Detailed contact tracing that the infected colleagues may have come into contact with is underway," SAP India said in an emailed statement.

The company said its offices across Bengaluru, Gurugram and Mumbai have been closed for extensive sanitisation. All employees based in these locations have been asked to work from home till further notice

SAP India also advised its employees to seek medical advice if they or their family members have any symptoms of cold, cough with fever.

H1N1 or swine flu can spread through air. Its symptoms are cough, fever, sore throat, running nose, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue.